The Blood Army
THE BLOOD ARMY Episode Three, Season Two, of Rise. Enjoy <3 The Blood Army It’s quite weird to wake up in your den again when you’re certain you never walked yourself in. I didn’t know where I had fallen, but I know it wasn’t in the old shack that had served as my home for seventeen moons. Of course, to add on to the weirdness of the situation, an elderly tom walks into the den. “I found you out-a-ways, lying on the floor,” he tells me, “I carried you over here.” “Why here?” I ask, puzzled. “Because the kind cats around here told me so.” It takes me awhile to realize his slang. Twolegplace slang, as I liked to call it back then. Something I never got used to, despite living here for nearly my entire life. “Thanks,” I mumble, my mouth feeling dry. “Have a bit water and a bit food,” he pushes some over. I thank him again and when I’m done, I decide that perhaps I could take a bit from this situation and ask a few questions before the tom left. “Have you heard of the Blood Army?” I draw a paw over my head and try to clean out the dirt from my pelt. “Here and there,” the tom bustles around, cleaning up any mess I’ve made. “What do you know about them?” “Not much.” I glance at the tom curiously. He obviously didn’t want to reveal much, but at the same time he was truthful enough to tell me that he knew the group. Or at least heard about them. “Tell me whatever you know.” “You need rest,” the tom advises, “you fell down-a-way and passed out for a long time. Rest is good for you.” “Later,” I insist, “if you tell me what you know, I’ll rest.” The tom gazes at me, his pale green eyes calm and unrevealing. “Rest first,” he decides, “then tell.” I want to protest, but my eyelids suddenly droop. I feel a rush of panic and realize the tom must have drugged me with the prey and the water. I have to ask him the questions… '' ~ “We’re lost.” Terran glanced at his sister, who glowered at the rest of them. “We’ve been wandering around for ''three days. There’s barely any prey for all of us and we’ve had to retrace our steps to the forest to get prey instead. Let’s be honest, we’re never going to find Bryce in this mess.” Feathershine looked exhausted. With only the three of them looking for Bryce, splitting up was not an option. “Well, what do you expect?” Terran sighed, “We don’t know the terrain like Bryce does. Wherever she is, I bet she’s looking for us too. Maybe we should just stay put.” “Unless she’s bleeding or dying somewhere,” Karina snapped. Terran flinched. Karina’s golden eyes softened and she took a step towards the white tom but he stumbled away. “I’m going to look around for a safe place to stay the night,” he said roughly. “We should go together--” Feathershine protested, but Karina stopped her. Terran let his mind wander as he roamed around. Each den looked the same: broken, worn down, and practically invisible. Bedraggled cats took shelter in anything abandoned, sometimes even moving around as not every place was safe for more than one day. It was very different from forest life. All around him were cats who worked with amity, yet seemed so secluded from the other cats surrounding them. “Don’t think of them as peaceful,” someone says behind him purred, “Many of them have a bellicose personality. You understand, don’t you? You were once a Viper after all. A serene face could just be a mask of terror and hatred.” Terran turned slowly, too slowly. He didn’t see the blow coming. “Terran!” He heard his sister scream, “Get off him, you monster!” The tom had his claws to Terran’s neck. “Another Viper,” he noted, watching Karina and Feathershine dash towards him, “and a Coalition cat. How strange, the three of you…” Karina skidded to a stop, her eyes tracking the tom’s claws. “Who are you?” She growled, “How do you know so much about us?” “I’ve been watching you,” he said, almost casually, “For the past three days, the three of you have been walking up the down the streets of the Twolegplace, looking for something. Plus, I could recognize my enemies anywhere.” “Enemies?” Feathershine echoed. “Oops,” the tom smiled, “my mistake. Did that slip out of my mouth?” Karina narrowed her eyes but Terran felt the dig of the tom’s claws in his neck. “Don’t move,” the tom teased, his green eyes cold and unemotional, “from the look on your face, this tom means a lot to you. Brother or boyfriend I’m not sure, but who cares?” Terran found little reassurance in knowing that the tom didn’t know everything about them. “Who are you?” Karina repeated. “I’m many things,” the tom looked almost bored, now that the conversation turned to him, “I have many identities, though most are fake. Which one would you like to know?” “Your most recent one.” “Ah, that’s my favorite. Aleric, they call me.” The dark brown tabby tom tilted his head, “And would you enlighten me with your names?” “Certainly not,” Karina snorted. “Let my brother up, Aleric.” “Ah, so your siblings,” Aleric smiled again, “Let me tell you what I want. I want your little friend to stop poking around, trying to figure out who we are.” “Who is this ‘little friend’?” Feathershine asked. “I don’t know her name,” he waved his tail, “she’s a tiny little black she-cat. Wears this fierce expression…some say she used to live here.” Bryce. Terran almost breathed her name out. Karina bared her teeth. “We’ll do whatever we want.” Terran gulped as the tom grinned lazily before slowly drawing his claws nearer to his throat. “Stop!” Karina gasped out, her golden eyes wide with horror. “We’ll tell her.” “Good,” Aleric stepped off Terran and disappeared. He moved too fast for them to detect which way he went. “Are you alright?” Karina knelt down beside her brother, “He didn’t harm you, did he?” “No,” Terran winced, “but I’m worried about Bryce.” Karina’s golden eyes are uncharacteristically dark. “Don’t worry,” she said grimly, “we’ll find her for sure.” ~ When I wake up again later in the day, the tom is gone. I can tell by how faded his scent is that he’s long gone and he’s probably not coming back. I don’t what plant he mixed into the prey I ate, but it must have been strong. I manage to push myself to my paws. The drowsiness from the plant makes me sway but after some difficulty I keep my balance and stagger outside. It takes awhile for the plant’s effects to wear off and I am able to properly walk once more. It isn’t until I’m far from the shack when I stop short. Even if others told the tom that I lived in the shack, they must also have known that I hadn’t been there for a whole moon. It would be easy for them to assume that nobody inhabited the shack. So did the tom just assume it was an empty den or did he know exactly who I was? And how did he know which plant would drug me? I had to figure this all out, and soon. I had no idea where my friends were, but considering how much danger I’ve seem to be in already, I can only hope for the best for my friends. I stop my several places, asking toms and she-cats about the stocks and just what the Blood Army does with them. Nobody offers an answer, and many just look generally terrified of the phrase “Blood Army”. Many turn me away quickly without even uttering a single word. It’s awhile before I finally find my answer. My surprise is evident as Calypso is the one to breathlessly catch up to me and ask to speak to me privately. When I lead her back to my old shack, she finally explains what’s going on. “Presidia doesn’t know I’m here but I thought over what you were asking and I decided you need to know.” Calypso gazes at me with her green eyes. I wait patiently. “The Blood Army use the stocks for many different things. The rumor I’ve heard is that they’ve found ways to create mixtures that affect cats in different ways. Sometimes it’s mixing plants together and other times it’s the blood of different animals.” “What do you mean by ‘different ways’?” “Sometimes it’s a drug,” Calypso says cautiously, “like to put a cat to sleep or to subdue their mind so that they are servants to a master. Other times it’s poison, made to kill from within.” Fear runs through me. I had been drugged last night, I must have been. The tom had to be working for the Blood Army and they were following me. “Is that all?” I ask urgently, feeling the need to escape this den. “That’s all I know,” Calypso nods, “please don’t tell anyone I told you.” “I won’t,” I promise, “thank you.” The gray she-cat is gone before the last word escapes my mouth and I hurry outside. I had to find my friends. We had to get out of here so I could process these thoughts and figure out what to do. It turns out that finding my friends isn’t that hard. Terran is arguing with Karina just a few streets down, his neck stained with what seemed like blood. Feathershine glances at them, worried. “Terran!” I call out, “Karina, Feathershine!” They turn in unison and the white tom’s pale blue eyes light up with joy. He bounds over. “Bryce! I’m glad you’re alright.” “I’m fine,” I agree, “but are you?” He looks confused and I indicate to his throat. Terran blinks and shrugs, “I’ll tell you later. Where have you been?” “Many places,” I sigh. The End. Category:Fan Fictions Category:Cchen3's Fanfics Category:Rise